Birmingham council ends school holiday meal vouchers

'It couldn't happen at a worse time given the rise and hike in food prices,' says single mum Gemma Folan

Free school holiday meal vouchers introduced in the pandemic have been scrapped by Birmingham City Council.

It said it was replacing the £15 per week voucher by "providing a range of free holiday activities and meals".

One mum said she could not afford extra costs to travel to the events and criticised the council's decision.

The authority is offering free food boxes to 1,600 households which meet certain critieria. But Gemma Folan said the lack of food choices was a problem.

Ms Folan said the scrapping of the voucher scheme "couldn't have come at a worse time" for low-income families in the city.

Instead of providing supermarket vouchers to parents whose children would usually receive free school meals, the council is offering boxes of set ingredients and hosting Bring It On Brum for 5-16-year-olds across the city.

This is something 39-year-old Ms Folan said was "just not cost effective" for many parents.

Food charities and anti-poverty campaigners, including England and Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford, repeatedly clashed with the government over the issue of food for poor pupils during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly over school holidays.

'Best budget prices'

Ms Folan, whose son attends a junior school in Gravelly Hill, said an event closest to her at Erdington Leisure Centre had sold out and she could not justify spending £5 per day on public transport if she was to go to another location.

She said: "Twenty five pounds is a week's worth of shopping for me. If I could afford £5 a day to take my son to go and do these activities then I wouldn't be asking for food vouchers."

She added rising food costs, as well and gas and electricity bills, meant she was running out of ways to save money.

"It's 10 times worse at the moment. It couldn't happen at a worse time, given the rise and hike in food prices.

"I shop on a budget anyway and I get healthy food at the best budget prices I can find.

"From fruit to a tin of soup - all the food prices have gone up."

She added she had only found out the vouchers had stopped after contacting her son's school and was later sent an email about the events.

Ms Folan said communication as to why the vouchers had stopped had been "very poor" as she initially thought she had been "missed off a list".

It is only after the BBC contacted the council for a comment she learnt she was eligible for a free food box.

"Unfortunately my son won't eat half the food on the list, he will only eat certain fresh fruit and foods, like many kids his age," she said.

"There wouldn't be any point in me applying for this box which offers no choice to parents, as ungrateful as it may sound."

• Rashford and Kerridge's meals campaign hits £200k

• Child poverty fears as £20 top-up ends - Rashford

• 'Parents cry because they can't provide food'

A spokeswoman for Birmingham City Council said: "Through Bring It On Brum we are providing a range of free holiday activities and meals, most of which are at schools and sports centres on public transport routes.

"However, we understand that some families may not be able to attend in person so we are also providing activity packs and food boxes for those eligible for free school meals.

"We did not provide free school meals vouchers before the pandemic. The first allocation was funded by [the council] in March 2020 with all subsequent allocations [up to and including Christmas 2021] funded through government grants."

Nearby Solihull Council is continuing to fund supermarket vouchers of £40 per child over Easter.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak during his Spring Statement announced the household support fund, which part-funded schemes such as this, will be doubled to £1bn "to help most vulnerable households with rising costs" - with local authorities receiving funds from April.

In 2020 a BBC News investigation showed 24.5% of pupils in the West Midlands were eligible for free school meals - the second highest region in England after the North West.

Across the UK 1.74 million pupils were eligible for free school meals, according to government data in January 2020 - a 3% increase on the previous year.